Tailoring the selective generation of oxidative organic radicals for toxic-by-product-free water decontamination.

Wu, Jing-Hang; Yang, Tian-Hao; Sun, Yi-Jiao; Min, Yuan; Hu, Yi; Chen, Fei; Chen, Jie-Jie; Yu, Han-Qing · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Peracetic acid (PAA) is emerging as a versatile agent for generating long-lived and selectively oxidative organic radicals (R-O<sup>•</sup>). Currently, the conventional transition metal-based activation strategies still suffer from metal ion leaching, undesirable by-products formation, and uncontrolled reactive species production. To address these challenges, we present a method employing BiOI with a unique electron structure as a PAA activator, thereby predominantly generating CH<sub>3</sub>C(O)O<sup>•</sup> radicals. The specificity of CH<sub>3</sub>C(O)O<sup>•</sup> generation ensured the superior performance of the BiOI/PAA system across a wide pH range (2.0 to 11.0), even in the presence of complex interfering substances such as humic acids, chloride ions, bicarbonate ions, and real-world water matrices. Unlike conventional catalytic oxidative methods, the BiOI/PAA system degrades sulfonamides without producing any toxic by-products. Our findings demonstrate the advantages of CH<sub>3</sub>C(O)O<sup>•</sup> in water decontamination and pave the way for the development of eco-friendly water decontaminations based on organic peroxides.